Evening Star Newspaper, February 9, 1927, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. ‘WEDNESDAY. .February 9, 1927 THEODORE W. NOYES. . . .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office 11th St. lyania Ave. ol SRt o118 Eart ain st E{:Iqr‘flmldlfll ,. Ao Bmoe: 1 Bt London. Chi European Office: 14 Englanc The Evening Star. with the Sunday morn- ine edition. ia delivered by carriers Within the city at 60 r month: daily only. 45 : Sundays only. 20 cents ‘may be sent by mail or Collection is mads by carrier at end of each month. Rate by Mall—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday. .1 yr.. $0.00 7 5Tl Daily only ........ Sunday only.. 1yr. All Other States and Canada. Daily and § 00: 1 mo., $1,00 Bally “oud, Sunday..§ 70 S48 00: 1 mo- > 78 Sunday only D1yl $4.00:1mo. 3bc Member of the Associated Press. exclusively entitled ication of all news dis. or not otherwise cred- is paper and alto the local newe erein. Al riehts of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved _—— = — Politics and Farm Relief. It sauce is equally good for goose and gander, the economic theory em- bodied in the McNary-Haugen farm relief bill is as applicable to other industries as to agriculture. Why not an equalization fee on every ton of bituminous coal in order to enable high-cost mines to compete with low-cost mines, storing the ever-ac- cumulating surplus or dumping it abroad and requiring American coal consumers to foot the bill? And when the coal industry had been cared for, the cotton spinners, who Just now are hoeing a hard row, would probably be found standing in line, with others hurrying up to get in on the good thing while the getting continued good. The McNary-Haugen economists apparently still cherish an abiding faith in the ability of any number of families to sustain them- selves by taking in each other's ‘wash, But the difficulty does not seem to be one merely of unsound economics. With a considerable number of the bHI's proponents political considera- tio: have come to outweigh eco- nomic principles. In some cases these considerations have to do with the personal political fortunes of the proponents, In others the motivat- ing idea apperently is to be to “put the President in a hole.” The latter are proceeding on the theory that passage of the bill by Congress would place the President in a dilemma with political dynamite in both its horns. They figure that if he vetoed the Dbill he would alienate the West and '‘that if he signed it the East would turn against him. The fault in their reasoning is that they credit both the President and the people as a whole with the same political slant with which they have deluded them- selves. There is nothing in the rec- ord of Mr. Coolidge to warrant bellef that he has come to the point of surrendering conviction to political expediency, nor is there anything in the history of the American people to justify the theory that they will repudiate a leader because he has the courage of his convictions. i There is reason to believe that many Senators and Representatives are self-deluded, or propaganda-de- luded, as to the real sentiment of farmers. Trustworthy reports from the agricultural areas do not show anything like unanimity, or even a preponderance of sentiment, for the McNary-Haugen bill. Only a mi- nority of farmers would benefit from it, and even among the proposed beneficiaries those who do their own thinking realize that Government price fixing and class taxation are too great B national peril to com- pensate for any temporary benefits they might derive from the McNary- Haugen scheme. Informed opinion which has not been blinded by prejudice holds that farmers generally would be abun- dantly satisfied if Congress would pass the Curtis-Crisp bill, which pro- vides a revolving fund for the orderly marketing of surpluses, but avoids both Government price fixing and the equalization fee of doubtful consti- tutionality. It is believed that the President, who is sincerely anxious that farmers should be helped through their present difficulties, would sign such a measure, and that the country as a whole would be glad to see the program given a fair working trial. Even those farmers who think they want the McNary- Haugen bill see hope of substantial benefits in the Curtis-Crisp measure and are not likely to be happy if, through political ambitions or political animosities, adjournment of Congress finds them left without any measure of relief. . The real question is not the valua- tion of railway property so much as the valuation of a street car token. e Trunks and Fashions. Feminine fashions are affecting the size and shape of trunks and other baggage devices. At a meeting of the National Luggage Dealers’ Association in Chicago an exhibition of new prod- ucts shows an array of trunks and bags that appear like toys. The presi- dent of the association in explanation says: “The women don't wear any- thing and we can't sell the old line. Formerly a woman's clothes were a matter of pounds. Now they are ounces.” The oldstyle “Saratoga trunk” is now little more than a mere memory. Here and there one reappears, drawn from the attic of an old-fashioned house for a rare journey. It holds the personal effects of the entire family for a long trip. The so-called wardrobe trunk has replaced this enor- mous box, greatly to the relief of the “baggage smashers” of the railway men’s travel equipment, for men's ap- parel styles do not shift appreciably. The long-tail coat has almost gone out of wear and is seldom carried on a trip. That is about the ouly gain in point of space. Collars, shirts and neckties—detachable cuffs are not now to be considered—underwear and hose and toflet articles constitute the chief line of gear that must be borne. There is more traveling now with small baggage than with the cumber- some trunks of the past. Many a wom- an is able to make a brilliant showing of gowns out of a “week end bag” of amazingly small proportions. The question arises whether this tendency will continue. Will the tissues be made thinner and finer and the bags and trunks grow less and even less in proportion? R . Lafayette Square. Having determined definitely upon a policy of using for future public bulldings the lands lying between Pennsylvania avenue and the Mall, the Government should now declare its Intention respecting another area which has been for some time contem- plated as the site of other structures, the blocks surrounding Lafayette Square. It has been understood to be the purpose to use those spaces for certain public buildings, the State De- partment having been tentatively as- signed to the square on the west of the park, while an extension of the Treasury Annex has on certain maps of prospective developments been placed on the eastern side. Nothing, however, has been done toward the foreclosure of this tentative lien. In the public buildings bill ehacted some months ago a proviso was inserted that none of the funds authorized for appropriation should be used for the erection of buildings north of Penn- sylvania avenue with the exception of a new Government Printing Office. That stipulation insured the concen- tration of the contemplated new de- partmental structures within the Mall- Avenue triangle, the complete acquisi- tion of which has just now been au- thorized. The proviso, however, is not in the form of substantive legislation, governing only the prospective con- stryctions specifically authorized in the adopted program. It does not place a definite limitation upon the Govern- ment’s policy in other building em- placements. A new State Department Building is urgently required. The present hous- ing of that important branch of the Federal administration is wholly in- adequate and unsuitable. It is a joint tenant in a three-department building. It should have its own home. The Treasury Department is steadily ex- panding, and must have more space near the main building. The present annex across. the street is filled to overflowing, and ordinary foresighted- ness suggests early beginning on the extension of that annex. Assuredly there is no justification in any scatter- ing of the quarters. As for the morthern side of Lé- fayette Square a different situation prevails. The two blocks present a distinct problem from those on the east and west sides. One of the blocks is occupied by the Veterans’' Bureau, a private dwelling and a church. The other holds the home of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, and, until a very few days ago, it held two dwellings of notable architec- ture which have been razed for a pri- vate commercial construction. An ap- peal has been made by the American Institute of Architects for some ac- tion which will prevent the use of any of the lands flanking the square for private purposes, or at least for commercial uses. Much as the intrusion of commer- cial buildings on Lafayette Square is to be deplored, it is not fair to regard those spaces as excluded from the en- terprise of builders igdefinitely. There should be a specific nition of policy respecting the whole area. If commer- clal use is to be permitted and a zon- ing restriction is to be imposed, it should be promptly established. If, on the other hand, the Government is to control for its own uses or with respect to private occupancy and use of the land a declaration should as quickly as possible be written into law. The Government itself has ex- ceeded the building height that is recognized as most desirable for this area in the Veterans’ Bureau Build- ing, which rises far above the Treas- ury Annex and the Chamber of Com- merce Building, and above the line which has been tentatively adopted for the State Department on the west side of the park. Although the session is drawing to & close there is time for some explicit action which will either prevent the intrusion of tall commercial structures or will permit business constructions, and such action should be had. — Public curiosity encourages scandal in an amazing degree. Yet scandal has to be deftly managed to make it an asset. The press agent is often ob- scure. Nevertheless he is one of the great literary artists of the day. r—.—————— it New York censors local perform- ances, many out-of-town buyers may remain at home and wait to see the shows when they “cut loose” in “the sticks.” ——— Helpless at Sea. Powerful as it is when fully fueled and under steam, the modern ship is still weak and helpless when it is lack- ing in heat units. Rarely does it hap- pen that a liner or even a tramp freighter is thus stranded, as it were, without the means of making steam and maintaining headway. At the be- ginning of every voyage its bunkers are filled, and it has an ample reserve to enable it to hold its own against even the severest weather. The tramp steamer can always find coal at some port which it can make by using its reserves. With the introduction of oil for fuel, however, has entered a new element of danger into the navigation problems. This was illustrated in the lines. But even these contraptions of late times are shrinking. Owing to the shift in styles, a woman can carry & dozen gowns in a space that was formerly sufficlent for only about four, 4 There ia no change, however, fi case of the steamer President Harding on her latest voyage from Bremen to New York. Shortly after the ship left Cobh—which used to be known as Queenstown—a leak in the fuel tanks was discovered. It was thought that the ship could make port, but off Nova THE EVENING STAR Scotla last Saturday the tanks had become so depleted that the com- mander headed for Halifax. His ofl supply was exhausted before he could reach there, and for some hours the ship lay in the trough of the sea, help- less.* No steam could be made for pro- pulsion. It was fmpossible to heat the ship. The passengers suffered from cold. It was necessary to break up hatch covers and other wooden equip- ment to provide fuel for the galleys for cooking. Finally a small steamer came in sight and was hailed by the liner's siren, which could barely be sounded. Help was obtained, a little oil was transferred to the Harding for heating purposes and she was taken in tow to Halifax. Such an experfence seems wholly anomalous in these days, and yet with the use of ofl fuel it is quite a definite possibility. In this case it is evident that a mistake was made in attempt- ing to cross the ocean with leaking tanks. Doubtless a rule of safety will be adopted by all steamship manage- ments to prevent the taking of such chances hereafter. The experience of the passengers on the Harding brings to memory that of Phineas Fogg, Jules Verne's world- touring character in “Around the World in Eighty Days.” On his last 1ap the ship in Which he was speeding ran short of fuel, and it was necessary to use practically all the wood which could be spared from the craft to keep the boilers going. That was before the days of metal ships, and so the whole vessel was a potential fuel pile. A steel ship furnishes but little fuel reserve out of her own structure, and an ofl burner is handicapped by the peculiar construction of her furnaces. Evidently the care of the ofl tanks is the first duty of the commander of such craft. e Japan loves her ancient customs. A deceased emperor is honored less by modern magnificences than by ances- tral ceremonials. However brilliant the promises of the future, the influ- ence of the splendid past remains in- superable. The world has struggled much and what is learned through hardship is not lightly forgotten, even in the processes of change and ad- vancement. ————————— . Aimee did not swim icy waters. She arrives triumphantly after battling with the current in a turbulent and muddy stream, ———————— Uncle Sam is exceedingly rich and, therefore, regarded with envy. No philanthropist, however earnest, has escaped jealous antagonisms. vt Base ball fans are eagerly awaiting the time when the batters and base runners will crowd Judge Landis and Ban Johnson out of the spotlight. All the wisdom of Confucius appears to have been thrown into the discard by the Chinese savant who takes credit for having invented gunpowder. ———————— In certain parts of the world a dic- tator, once regarded as a product of revolt, is now regarded as a promise of comparatively stable government. ————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Had a Little Party. Had a little party Down to Pohick on the Crick— Old-time fiddlers playin’ ‘With the proper old-time trick, Old-time dancers showin’ A touch of old-time grace, And a good old-fashioned dinner To assist the old-time pace. ‘We left the old-time music And syncopated fast, ‘We danced the newest dances Before the night was past: But when they served the banquet, The food was fine and fit, That good old-fashioned dinner ‘Was the big new-fashioned hit. Comparisons. “What are your views portant question?” “I hesitate to present them,” an- swered Senator Sorghum. ‘The ques- tion is so important that it must em- phasize the unimportance of my per- sonal opinions.” on this im- Thaw. The snow—the beautiful snow! It melts in a turbulent flood. The tune is solemn and slow, The mud—the terrible mud! Jud Tunkins says “a good listener” is too often a man who jes’ grins with- out takin' the trouble to understand what you're talkin’ about. *‘Our ancestors warned us to be gen- erous and kind,” said Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown. “Yet the most distin- guished ancestors, whom we fain would imitate, were good fighters.” Pleasure Trip. “Was your trip to Florida a pleas- ure trip?” “I can assure you it was. Nothing has given me more pleasure than my success in real estate operations.” * Notorlety. Misfortune is a thing That leaves a person sad, Yet profit it may bring When harnessed as an ad. “Hope,” sald Uncle Eben, “is whut keeps us goin' even when we don't know where We's goin’ to.” One Agreement That Works. From the New Yorfl Herald Tribune. Apparently, the bituminous coal miners cannot strike in an even- numbered year without coming into conflict with an anthracite strike, Dual Roles Impossible. From the Philadelphia Public Ledger. Nine times out of ten the cake- eater makes a poor bread-winner. Some Joy in Work. ¥rom the Cleveland News. Annual refusals of the Ford family to sell out for $1,000,000,000 seem natural enough. Nobody likes to be left unemployed. ——— The Long and Short of It. From the Baltimore Sun. In all the discussion about women's skirts, the women themselves have made short work of it. THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. “I feel happy today,” he said. “Why?" asked his inquisitive friend. “I don't know—just because Spring is coming, I guess." Warm days in February, more or less common during recent years, un- doubtedly have much the same effect upon thousands of, persons. Spring {8 coming! “Yes, indeed, and so is Christmas,” pipes up some surly humorist, so called. But Spring is actually on the way. Formidable, cold Winter days may in- tervene, winds may blow, and all that sort of thing, bu¢ the harbingers of the vernal season have been seen, heard and felt. There is not & bit of doubt in the world that Spring is coming, bringing with it the freshest air in all this world, the most beautiful sights, the happiest sounds. How can the crisp air of Fall or the sharp air of Winter. really com- pare with the delicious smell of a real Spring day? ‘Windows in houses then are timid- ly put up, as if the inhabitants were afraid thac a little air might be in- imical; but they shortly find that it is only beneficent, bringing healing to heated and stuffed lungs. The damp coolness of an early Spring day is without parallel in the wheel of the seasons. The moist earth, soggy underfoot, feels the caress of the sun. Animals run and frisk, as likewise do little children. Older ones feel exceptionally frisky. Spring is in the air. o Wi Spring is only tentatively in the air now, as one might say. She has put forth but a few timid advances. The jonquils came up 1a the front yard, responding to the touch of the sun. Their sisters, the tulips, in some places, stuck their heads above the soil, but this was a phenomenon depending mostly upon a position in full sun- shine. The sense of Spring, however, is something else again. This is the “es- sence of things hoped for,” the long- ing of the human being for fair and bright skies beneath which o cerry on his plans. It is a source of perpst: ual wonder, if one stops to think about it, why every last man of us does not migrate to California, or Florida, or Hawall, or the islands of the south seas, where balmy breezes forever blow, according to the tales, and mys- tic qualities of atmosphere send a new tingle through the blood. This, it would seem, might be a tingle distinctly worth while, in com- parison to the cheap attempts so often fatuously made in our latitude to wrest a “thrill” from life that too often strikes some as insipid. After al, what makes insipidity, in life, more than the mind? ‘“You cannot get out of a thing more than you put into it,” says the saying, and this may well apply to that greatest of affairs, life itself. The world got off on the wrong foot, in a sense, when it enunciated the dictum that ‘all men are born free and equal.” In the usual way of speak- ing, this justly famous statement is hardly true. We are not born equal in physique, in mind, in heart. One of the great disturbing factors in the world today is this very fact, that huge numbers of children are born into the world with no pride of place, no name to uphold, no standards to maintain, no sense of the ‘“eternal fitness of things,” no pride in themselves of their ancestors. With their mind equipment dis- tinetly third class, they do so and o, and Soclety holds up its hands in holy horror, declaring that they have broken the rules of first-class conduct. Why, certainly! What else can be ex- pected? “You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear,’ says the homely old aphorism (although that saying was born before the days of applied chemistry). With lessened_standards, lack of pride of place, With no sense of the fitness of things, oripride in them- selves or their families, these per: sons find life lacking in “thrills,” hence they run headlong into murder, Qisease, wrongs of all sorts, and the chronicling of their dotngs, in some anhappy quarters, tends to make the whole world lose its sense of propor- tion. * X k¥ The reason why all men do not mi- grate to the sunny climes is simply this: That well balanted persons store sunshine in their own hearts, to carry them through the dark days. Their minds make sunshine wherever they are. The sunshine of the heart is no less a mental thing tha the sunshine of Spring is a physical actuality, and the one is no less important than the other, in the economy of the well or- dered life. No man's life is so well ordered, of course, that there is nr_\l much inner turmoil in it, but his life is, as compared with that of the other sort, so free and happy that we get back to the original meaning of the famous phrase, “All men are born free and equal.’” The gentleman who said, “I feel happy— because Spring is coming, undoubtedly possesses the mind that sees, and e lives, in essence, the well ordered life. . Such a life is more t6 be desired than many fine automobiles, for it can give what nothing made by hands can give—happiness. From it flow daily the fresh winds of joy, balmy alrs of clean living, fresh odors of interest. Without these winds and airs and scents to keep, the “Spring- time-in-the-Heart,” would life not run great risks of being a continuous Winter? * Kk ¥ % The hazards along the roads of life are not so much speeding automobiles, or lurking germs, or great wars. In some moods it Is easy to see that we must all dle, and we might as well dle one way as another. The true pitfalls along the roads, the dangerous ouiblettes set by some wicked queen of evil, are rather those habits, both individual and racial, those tralts of mind, that call out the worst in us, and make us only ani- mals, after all, using different methods of tearing and rending;. more danger- ous because they are more insidious, less decent because they are more sneaking. This has been the real great fight of the ages, to pacify these aninial and subanimal traits in_human nature, and make us all what every one, in his best moods, knows we might as well be. That i§ the pity of it! Every one knows what life should be and might be, but between the cup and the lip there i¢ many a fall indeed! Come soon, Spring, that we may be happler than usual,.and, if possible, better. WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, who has set the political dovecotes flutter- ing with his prognostications of Pres- ident Coolidge’'s 1928 intentions, has ranked as a White House oracle for the past six years. No unofficial per- sonage comes and goes at the Execu- tive Mansion more regularly. Since March 4, 1921, the cultured head of Columbla University has been a guest there on numerous occasions. Presi- dent Harding was accustomed to con- sult Dr. Butler freely and frequently on critical questions of both domestic and foreign politics. Soon after Mr. Coolidge became President, he contin- ued the practice of his predecessor and invited Dr. Butler to sojourn at the White House pertodically. The statesman-scholar ~ of Morningside Heights speclalizes in calling a spade a spade, His hobnobbings at the ad- ministration fireside are always wel- comed on that account. Butler is con- sistently careful, after he has hov- ered near the throne, to disclaim any authority to speak for his exalted host. But there are cases on record when the president of Columbia taught something one day, and the President of the United States did it soon afterward. * ok ok x One of the three men who are con- sidered to be closer to Calvin Coolidge than any others was asked by this observer not long ago what the Presi- dent really has up his sleeve regard- ing renomination. “I don’'t know,” was the reply, “and nobody but Cool- idge knows.” The bosom friend am- plified his confession of ignorance by explaining that it is the Coolidge way to conceal important decisions until the zero hour—that is, when it is nec- essary to make them known—and not to divulge them a moment sooner. The President is said by the distin- guished authority In question to have practiced that precept persistently since his earliest political days. The view was thereupon hazarded that it may be as late as a year hence before an anxious country, and a still more anxious Republican party, will be taken into the confidence of “Cautious e * KK K Not since the President took office in August, 1923, has he fated so eager a press conference as surged around him yesterday in quest of light and leading on the Butler 1928 affair. But the White House spokesman was nev- er more evasive. He referred his in- terrogators to “The Mind of the Pres- jdent"—C. Bascom Slemp’s ‘“‘revela- tion” of Mr. Coolidge as unfolded by imself. Diligent search through lh‘e lemp encyclopedia of the President’s views on public questions discloses no inkling of Mr. Coolidge's thoughts on the subject of a third term. But there is in Mr. Slemp’s own “analysis and interpretation” of his former chief a passage which may not be without some bearing on the issue just raised. “In dealing with' public or political questions,” Slemp says, “‘President Coolidge has political Intuition almost psychic. One cannoi see, touch or hear a political tide, but it can be felt. The man in public life who fails to cre- ate a tide or sense an adverse tide wlil soon be politically lost. Coolldge, with the single exception of Roosevelt, has possessed this intuition in the most marked degree of all our recent Presi- dents, * * * Calvin Coolidge believes that the people sense the great issues of the day and reach the right con- clusions regarding them. As he sees it, the task of a great national leader is not to try to go ahead of this ma- jestic army of human thought and as- piration, blazing new and strange ths.” - * ok Kk Sterling Fessenden, a long-time resi- dent of Shanghal, is chairman of the municipal council which now wields complete power over the great inter- national eommunlt: outside whose walls China's ng may soon clash. A native of Maine and kinsman of Willlam Pitt Fessenden, once an eminent member of the United States Senate, Fessenden has prac- ticed law In Shanghai for more than a quarter of a century. He was taken into partnership by~ Consul General Jernigan, America’s well known repre- sentative at Shanghal during the Cleveland administration, and, on Jer- nigan's death, succeeded to the lead- ership of the firm. The Shanghai mu- nicipal council consists of nine foreign- ers—six Britons, two Americans and one Japanese—the proportion of na- tional membership depending upon the importance of the respective country's interests in the city. The Chinese of Shanghai are like the citizens of the District of Columbia—they are vote- less. They own about 80 per cent of all the property in the city, but prac- tically all of the valuable business area along the river front—the famous Bund—is owned by foreigners. ) Senator Charles L. McNary, Re- publican, of Oregon, grandfather and father of the farm-relief bill which bears his name, s basking in the caressing breezes of a vice presiden- tial boom. His stock is bound to rise if the McNary-Haugen project be- comes law. Tt is some time since the G. O. P. has gone ‘to the Far West for presidential or vice presidential timber, happens that McNary is one of Vice President Dawes’ cronies, but the present presiding officer of the Senate may find consolation for the McNary “movement” in the cir- cumstance that the Republicans are not accustomed to renominate their own Vice Presidents. * ok ok Senator-elect Willlam S. Vare, Re- publican, of Pennsyfvahia, has left his trials and tribulations at Washing- ton behind him and embarked upon a month’s motor trip through Florida with his wife and two daughters. The Philadelphia “boss,” who still repre- sents his district in the House, does not share the view n ‘widespread in Pennsylvania that he will never take his seat in the United States Senate. Meantime, there is one Senator Vare whose rights are ' uncontested—Sen- ator Flora M. Vare of the Pennsyl- vania upper house, now in biennfal session at Harrisburg. She is the widow of State Senator Edwin H. Vare. The latter was succeeded by his brother, Representative “Bill” 8. Vare, and when he entered the Pouse of Representatives at Wash- ington his sister-in-law—the present State Senator—succeeded him. L8 DU Dancing customarily winds up the White House receptions which the President and Mrs. Coolidge have been giving during the Winter. Despite the noble dimensions of the east room, waltzing and fox-trotting proceed amid congested traffic. A Tammany congressman, who was piloting his lady through one of the recent crushes, said he felt himself ‘more danced against than dancing.” (Covyright. 1027.) r——— Crossings for Contacts. From the Boston Herald. Jacob Wasserman, the German Doet now en route for this country, wishes to make genuine contacts with American life. That Flexible Policy. From the Ohlo State Journal. Our foreign policy, about which we have long wondered, seems to be that it's perfectly terrible for Mexico to do things that it's absolutely all right for us to do. ———————————— Too Inquisitive. From the Cincinnati Enquirer, ““Where'd you get that black eye?” s-k:d Smith. a “I got it,” grow! Jones, “as a result of asking another g man where Politics at Large By G. Gould Lincoln. For months the Republicans have been sliding along easily, without the prohibition issue troubling them. They have viewed with perfect equa- nimity the troubles of their Democrat- ic brethren over the wet and dry question. Now, in the twinkling of an eye, this issue threatens to raise its head in the Republican ranks. If Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler of New York and ator Borah of Idaho have their way, the wets and drys in the party no longer will lie down like sheep in the fold. enator Borah, champion of the dry cause and opponent of nullification of the eighteenth amendment to the Con stitution, in a letter to Dr. Butler ac- cepts the challenge hurled by the president of Columbia University to the drys when he declared that no man in either party could be elected President unless he took a definite stand in opposition to the eighteenth amendment. The letter of Senator Borah declares he is willing to go into any State where ‘delegates to the next Republi- can national convention are to be chosen to debate the question whether the party and its nominee next year shall be wet or dry. ¥ e Between the two of them a move- ment has been launched which may result in putting on record every candidate who may aspire to the Re- publican nomination for President and Vice President. If these two gentle- men have their way there will be an end of “law enforcement wets” on the party ticket. Candidates must be either absolutely wet or absolutely dry; for the repeal of the eighteenth amendment and all its works or for the retention of the amendment. The Republican party has been dry in nearly all of the States where it has predominated. This is true in the graat States of the Middle West, Illinois, In- diana and Ohio. It is true of the party in Massachusetts, and to a very great extent of the party in New York. Practically every time a wet Republi- can has been on the ticket in the Em- pire State, in a State-wide election, he has split the party and a Democrat has come into office. Senator Wads- worth's recent defeat was a case in point. In Pennsylvania, last year, Representative William S. Vare, run- ning as a wet, won the Republican nomination for Senator, but by a less. vote than the combined vote of his two dry opponents. At the same time Gov. Fisher, who had been indorsed by the Anti-Saloon League, was nominated for governor and has since been elect- ed by an overwhelming vote. The Keystone State, therefore, cannot be claimed as a sure wet State, or the Re- publican party of that State as ‘“‘wet.” Up in Wisconsin Gov. John J. Blaine, a wet, defeated Senator Lenroot, who had been classed as a dry. But the victory of Gov. Blaine in the sena- torial race was attributable to other causes than the liquor question. o ot 1t Senator Borah's plan is followed, President Coolidge, if he be a candi- date, and all other presidential pos- sibilitles will be compelled to state their positions clearly on the eight- eenth amendment. They will not be able to say merely they belleve in en- forcing the law as long as the consti- tutional amendment is part of the basic law. This may or may not be ac- ceptable to the candidates. It does not promise as much grief for them as has come to the Democratic party, merely because Republicans have espoused the dry cause generally. The Democrats naturally are not displeased over this latest turn of events. They would like to see the wet and dry issue tear the G. O. P. as wide open as it has the Demo- cratic party, but they scarcely dare hope it will. The Democrats are not dissatisfied, either, with the interjec- tion of the “third term" issue into the possible Coolidge candidacy by Dr. Butler, a Republican. Tt is true that Dr. Butler said that he believed the President had too much common sense to permit himself to be chosen as a candidate with that issue hang- ing over his head. But he neverthe- less raised the issue. For this he is criticized here in Republican circles devoted to the President as decidedly not ‘‘clubby.” He is not, they say, the “White House spokesman.” The third term issue and the farm issue and now the liquor issue are all mat- ters the Coolidge people would like to soft-pedal. This does not mean the President himself, who has been signally consistent in his policles and his stand on issues since he entered the White House. But it does apply to some of those who would like to see the President succeed himself. * x % x Just when Dr. Butler was shooting at the President from the third term angle, along came former Gov. Frank O. Lowden with a telegram to farm organization leaders here, declaring that he favored the principle of the McNary-Haugen farm relief bill, the equalization fee. He might as well have announced himself a candidate for the Republican presidential nom- ination next year. It President Coolidge vetoes the bill, should it come to him from Congress as it probably will do, then Mr. Lowden springs at once into the limelight as the farmers’ candidate for the nomination. He be- comes the likely contender with the President’ for the delegations to the national convention from the farm States of the Middle West, the North- west and the Far West. If the Presi- dent should sign the bill, then the presidential ambitions of Mr. Lowden, Vice President Dawes and others who have espoused the cause of the McNary bill fade from the plcture. ‘What the President will do regard- ing the McNary-Haugen bill, if it comes to him, is still shrouded in some mystery. At the White House, how- ever, it has been urged that the Presi- dent does not change his policies. to win votes; that when he takes a stand on a matter he sticks to it. In view of his past opposition to legislation of this character presented in the Mc- Nary-Haugen bill, this was taken in some quarters to mean that he will veto the bill if it comes to him. It is unlikely he will make any statement regarding the bill until it takes its final form and is actually before him for approval. Nor will he say what his plans are for 1928 and the Repub- lican nomination. : * ok ok % Ever since Senator Borah last Spring announced himself strongly opposed to the proposals in New York and Illi- nois for the determination of what is an intoxicating beverage by the in- dividual States, he has been regarded as a potential dry candidate for the presidential nomination. The speed with which he picked up the gauntlet thrown down by Dr. Butler has led some of the politicians here to assert that Senator Borah has not, by any means, discarded the possibility of en- tering the lists for the Republican nomination. * K ok K If Dr. Butler's plan goes through for a showdown on prohibition where will it leave Speaker Longworth, re. garded as a presidential possibility, for example? Mr. Longworth comes from a State which is certainly dry by 150, 000 votes. He has been for law en- forcement, though regarded as a wet by some of the Anti-Saloon Leaguers. He has to be wet to win in his dis- trict in Cincinnati. But this wetness, if avowed as Senator Wadsworth avowed his in New York, would not win him the delegation to the Repub- lican national convention, nor help him in winning the general election in Ohio if he were nominated, let's say, against Gov. Donahey. H * ok ok K Out Q. Who was the first mayor of New | York City?—T. E. M. & A‘. Thomas Willett in 1665 was the rst. 8.C. W. A. This name is applied to a_very | large seal (Mirounga leonina) found | in the coast waters of the Southern Hemisphere. It grows sometimes to a length of 20 feet, and the old male develops an elongated proboscis. Q. How large is an atom; can it be | seen?—S. O. M. A. Dr. C. G, Abbot, in a report of the Smithsoman Institution, says that the diameter of an atom does not | exceed one ten-millionth part of the diameter of an ordinary bird shot. It| is, therefore, much too minute to béd visible even under a microscope. | Q. Where is the highest waterfall in the world?—B. F. A. Stirling Falls, New Zealand, hav- ing a fall of 1,904 feet, are probably the highest in the world. Q. How should paint brushes be| soaked in water?—D. L. D. A. Paint brushes should be put in water, hanging so theré is no weight on the bristles. If brushes are to be put away for longer than a day or two, however, they should be thoroughis cleaned ‘with benzine and washed in hot soapsuds. Q. Are the regular traffic policemen paid by the District government?— N Wi A. The Traffic Bureau says they are paid by the street raflway companies. Q. or T Are Oriental rugs made in Persia M. G are rugs from Persia, Turkey, Armenia and the surround- ing territory of the Near East. Those made in Persia are said by expertsto be the best. The Turkish rugs are seldom 80 fine, because their weave is coarser, the nap is longer, the ma- terials not so good and aniline dyes are used Instead of vegetable dyes which are more reliable. Q. Why is it sometimes as warm when the sun is not shining as when it is?—H. A. B. A. The temperature of the air at a given place depends not only on the sunshine it is then getting but also on its own recent history. Wind from the south on a cloudy day may be as warm as wind from the north on a sunshiny day. This is partic- ularly true when, as often happens, these winds have come a long way. Furthermore, when it is warm, humid air feels warmer than dry air at the same temperature. Q. In proportion to the flag flown with the Unifon Jack, what should be the size of the latter’—I. F. A. The Union Jack should be the size of the union, or the national flag, with which it is flown. Q. When one has not met the first member ‘of a receiving line, should one introduce one’s self?—M. D, A. When one has not met the first member of the receiving line, she should say to the leader, “I am Mrs. Jefferson.” Q. Please tell me something about Averof. Was he pure Greek, and what did he do for Greece?—J. P. G. A. George Averof was a Greek from the northern part of Greece, Q. Is there really a sea elephant?— |\ tune in . and on account of his generous s to Greece is con sidered one of th ‘emost benefac. s of the country. It is with his v that the Stadium of Athens It, for which Pentelic marble cted on exactly the re the ancient stadium He also b Averofion” in Athens, a reformatory for hoys and girl willed a la sum of money for the purchase of r, which was built and after his death and is stii] of th K navy, bearing the name of C What is the long pal swimn for eld by Pedro Candioli, Arger , Who sw m Re Argent hours a swim is tine amat to Santa , & di 78 mfles, d 1 mi Q. What is the alcoholic content of beer in Germany A, On January meRs had 16 per cent tha first time since 1915. In 19 under the law, the limit of alcoh contained in beer was 11 per cent 6, the Ger ek beer for Q. May the women of India vote? — A Women have had some provinces the vote in Q. How many flyers were in the Lafayette Escadrille?—C. €. A. The total number of flyers ba. longing to the Lafayette Escadrille during the World War was 210, Of these, 65 died and 19 were wounded Is insurance popular with Cana- M. M The president of one of the companles of Canada pita insurance in 6 exceeded $500, nst $444 in Canada s, re, the best ~insuring country in the world with the exception of the United States where the per capita insurance is $650 dlang? A. large insuranc | says that the ps Q. Is cocoa more stimulating than chocolate?—P. P. A. A. Yes. It has more of the nat ural stimulant than chocolate. Q. 1Is there a metal that is as strong as steel and as light as alumi R. H. W A. The Bureau of Standards says that heat-treated duralumin, an alu minum alloy, as strong as mild steel. Q. are moving pictures in Is the film col How natural colors made? fored?—W. M A. Colored motion pictures are made with a double film, one side be ing painted green and the other red This is a patented device. Find out whatever you know. There is no room for igno rance in this busy world. The person who loses out is the one who guesses The person who gets on is always the one who acts upon reliable informa- tion. This paper employs Frederic JI. Haskin to_conduct an_information bureau in Washington for the frec use of the pubdlic. There is no charge except 2 cents in stamps for re- turn postage. Write to him today for any faots you desire. Address The Evening Star Information Bu- reau, Frederic J. Haskin, director want o called “Epirus.” He made a large for- Washington, D. C. William G. McAdeo's speech on prohibition before the lawyers of Ohio at Toledo, in which he denounced the wets as nullificationists, has stirred a great national debate. Opinions dif- fer as to the effect on McAdoo's for- tunes as a candidate for the presiden- tial nomination, but it is widely be- lieved that this speech has launched the campaign of 1928. Discussing “Mr. McAdoo’s judg- ment on those who would nullify that part of the Federal Constitution known as the eighteenth amend- ment,” the Atlanta Journal (Demo- cratic) records that ‘“so able an econ- omist as Irving Fisher of Yale Uni- versity sustains him, not as a matter of sentiment or of politics, but on grounds of scientific truth, public in- terest and human welfare.” The Journal quotes Dr. Fisher as “refuting the charge that prohibition has re- sulted in an increase of deaths from alcoholism,” and that paper con- cludes: “Highly significant it is that William G. McAdoo, with a states- man's insight, and Irving Fisher, with a scientist’s penetration, have reached, by entirely independent paths, the same conclusion on a major issue of the times.” “Undoubtedly in this speech Mr. McAdoo was giving his well considered opinion upon a legal question,” says the Raleigh News and Observer (Democratic), “and yet the discussion is so interwoven with his supposed candidacy that little has been said of his able argument. Is his position unsound? If so, why should not his critics attack it, instead of insinuating that his legal argument is but a smoke screen for the announcement of his candidacy?"” ERE N The Santa Barbara Dafly News (Independent Democratic) describes the address as “a powerful and elo: quent plea for law and order and for constitutional government,” and adds: “Mr. McAdoo has taken a stand which will draw to him the great mass of the members of his party in the South and West. He has served notice that the crooked bosses of the great ‘citles shall not commit .the party to a course which leads to nullification and opens the way to anarchy and disunion.” “It {s an lssue that will not down, and the political leaders cannot pre- pare too soon to grapple with that hard fact and all its implications. Moreover, it is plainly a troublesome problem that overlaps party lines.” declares the Syracuse Herald (inde- nt). M;g:m) the Wichita Beacon (inde- pendent Republican) comes the com- ment: “W. G. McAdoo has taken off his coat and is using big, knobby words to describe his contempt for the person or persons he wishes to defeat in the coming big fight. Talks about grafters and skulduggery and throwing the rascals out should come next. It comes like a refreshing blast out of the West. Lay on, lay on, treat 'em rough!” Other comments are: “He promises to be the rallying point of all shades of dry opinion"—Utica Observer Dis- patch (independent). “Halled as the spokesman who has made articulate the dominant sentiment for law and order”"—Winston-Salem Sentinel (inde- pendent - Democratic). “His fight is Against the nullificationists who tear at the Constitution’s vitals”—Kalama- —— confined entirely to the Republicans. 1t Senator Reed were nominated he might carry the State against any Re- publican, even President Coolidge. But if Gov. Al Smith of New Yor were the candidate of the Democratic | party the Republican leaders feel that Missouri would for Coolidge by McAdoo’s Speech on Dry Law : Stirs Great National Debate 200 Gazette (Independent). “Either he will be an avowed candidate or his friends will launch the campaign for him"—Lynchburg ~ Advance (Dem ocratic). oo “McAdoo’s speech has, no doubt, caused rejoicing in the Republican ranks,” suggests the Morgantown New Dominion (independent), ‘“pre saging, as it does, the renewal of the 1924 feud. But it is better that they rejoice now than two years from now.” The Des Moines Tribune (in dependent Republican) holds that “no Democratic national convention will consider a wet candidate in the face of the McAdoo challenge.” The To. ledo Blade (independent Republican), however, suggests that “he challenges them to do their worst—and they will it he again becomes a candidate,’ while the Jersey City Journal (inde pendent Republican), Charlotte Ob- server (Democratic) and Topeka Cap. ital (Republican) forecast renewal of the struggle of 1924. “The situation of Democrats is not encouraging,” states the Nashville Banner (independent), “and but for the undermining rivalry of Smith and Me Adoo might be encouraging.” The Asheville Times (independent Demo cratic) maintains that “neither Smith nor McAdoo can unite the Democratic party in the sort of campaign neces sary for victory.” The BErooklyn Dail Eagle (independent Democratic) as serts that “his genius for stirring dis cord {s unmistakable and it is always easy to capitalize latent hatreds and prejudices. In this respect, and as « wrecker of the Democratic party, Mr. g’l;‘;:drlmflstr;nl merely following in yan's footsteps. Bo ps. He is taking longer The Toledo speech fs described by the Richmond News-Leader bs:xlnd- pendent Democratic) as one of “vio lent demagogism” and ‘“amazingl lacking in logi That paper con tinues: “He owes something to the unity of the party to which ha pro fesses alleglance. He owes decent consideration for the rights of other men. He owes a recognition of the honest. motives of those who differ from him as to the best methods by which temperance may be promoted He has an obligation to keep the party allve and intact, even 1f he Is denfed the honor he covets.” The undesira bility of a “return match between M Adoo and Smith” i3 declared by the Charleston Evening Post (independent Democratic) and the damaging effect of such a match on Democratic chances 18 forecast by the Pittsburgh Gazette Times (Republican), Buffalo Evening News (Republican), Provt dence Journal (independent), Chicago Tribune (independent Republican), New Orleans Times-Plcayune (inde pendent Democratic) and New York Times (independent Democratic). * Kok x The Kansas City Journal (Republi can) says: “We fear this man McAdoo hasn’t “political gumption. Else he carries an extra card concealed above his wrist.” The Chattancoga Times (independent Democratic) contends “If the conventlon is ready to adopt a return to Democratic principles and the restoration of the rights of the States and the decentralization of the Government at Washington, - then Gov. Smith or some other candldate- maybe Ritchle, Reed or McLean- must inevitably become the standard bearer.” The Philadelphia Fvening Bulletin (independent Republican), ~however, interprets the speech as “a gesture of renunciation of his own hopes of nom!- nation for the purpose of rallying dry sentimen The Duluth Herald (in dependent) also believes that ‘“his views will rally to his aid all the Democratic drys, and he may be able g0 from 50,000 to 75,000. In the first place, many of the Democratic coun- ties in the State are dry, and while Democratic defections might be made up by Republican support in St. Louis, to some extent, Gov. Smith would have hard W. they say. to dictate the nomination. “Drastic reorganization” is sug- gested by the Altoona Mirror (inde- pendent), which advises that “all the drys should belong to one party, all the wets to the other; then a real de- elsion would be possible.” 8|